Though fans will continue to eagerly await a new trailer, Lucasfilm just released a behind the scenes featurette at Disney’s D23 Expo for The Last Jedi that should tide everyone over a while. While it’s not shocking that they chose to show off some behind the scenes footage considering they have done the same with both The Force Awakens and Rogue One, what is shocking is how many interesting tidbits were crammed into it. Check it out right here!

First and foremost is how the cast describes the film throughout the reel. It’s a bit of a contrast to the messages we heard ahead of The Force Awakens that essentially talked up the point of everything old being new again with the direction they took the franchise. This time around there are several remarks about how surprising the story of The Last Jedi is, like Daisy Ridley saying, “Rian has written a story that is unexpected, but right.” Even though Star Wars has already established a record with The Empire Strikes Back in terms of using astonishing twists in the second film of a trilogy, the statements are tantalizing to any die hard fan. This is especially so when you hear Mark Hamill himself say, “Even though I think I know it all, they threw things at me story wise I never could have imagined.”

As far as the footage itself, some of it is quite revealing. It’s probably safe to say based on the footage here that we’re going to see Rey kick a whole lot of ass. There are numerous shots of her training, sometimes with a lightsaber and other with her trusty staff. In particular, there’s one fantastic shot where it looks like Ridley blocks three oncoming strikes at once with her lightsaber before launching into an offensive. In a word, the footage shown here and in the first trailer make it seem like we’re really in store for an intense Star Wars film.

Additionally, in spite of the journey we undoubtedly have to accompany Rey on, it looks like Finn is going to be heavily involved well as John Boyega can be seen in several different outfits in the brief featurette. There are shots of wearing Poe’s jacket from The Force Awakens in addition to shots of him donning a Resistance flight suit, and what appears to be a First Order officer’s uniform alongside Kelly Marie Tran’s new character. Along with Tran, several of the other newcomers can also be seen momentarily as well including Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro as Resistance Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo and the mysterious “DJ” respectively.

As exciting as the footage is, there is an unmistakable undertone to it that continues to celebrate the late, great Carrie Fisher and how much she meant to her fans around the world. There several tear inducing moments in the reel such as Oscar Isaac wrapping her in a hug and kissing her cheek or later when she’s enjoying a laugh with her on screen brother Mark Hamill. Fisher closes out the featurette saying of Star Wars that “it’s about family, and that’s what’s so powerful about it.” The Last Jedi is the last movie Fisher filmed prior to her passing at the end of last year.

While there were all of those goodies in the featurette, fans attending D23 were treated to another cool reveal. Lucasfilm unveiled a series of new character based teaser posters for The Last Jedi. Intriguingly they are all done in the same style with all of the characters clothing altered to appear blood red against a light slate colored background. Plus only the bottom halves of their faces are shown. Together those two aspects give the posters an almost unsettling tone which doesn’t make it seem like our heroes are in going to face a lot of challenges in the film. Check ’em all out below!

All in all, in spite of the fact that it’s not a trailer, this behind the scenes reel is a fantastic substitute. Not only do we get some juicy looks at the production of the film, these featurettes are actually a great way for Lucasfilm to treat fans without tipping their hand. They can preserve story information so we don’t know too much about the plot of the movie before going into it instead of falling into the trap of giving too much away in a slew of trailers. Plus those character posters are fantastic even if they’re somewhat disconcerting. The Last Jedi is slated to release later this year on December 15.

In addition to showing off some interesting footage in the featurette, Lucasfilm release a series of character based teaser posters.

Though fans will continue to eagerly await a new trailer, Lucasfilm just released a behind the scenes featurette at Disney’s D23 Expo for The Last Jedi that should tide everyone over a while. While it’s not shocking that they chose to show off some behind the scenes footage considering they have done the same with both The Force Awakens and Rogue One, what is shocking is how many interesting tidbits were crammed into it. Check it out right here!

First and foremost is how the cast describes the film throughout the reel. It’s a bit of a contrast to the messages we heard ahead of The Force Awakens that essentially talked up the point of everything old being new again with the direction they took the franchise. This time around there are several remarks about how surprising the story of The Last Jedi is, like Daisy Ridley saying, “Rian has written a story that is unexpected, but right.” Even though Star Wars has already established a record with The Empire Strikes Back in terms of using astonishing twists in the second film of a trilogy, the statements are tantalizing to any die hard fan. This is especially so when you hear Mark Hamill himself say, “Even though I think I know it all, they threw things at me story wise I never could have imagined.”

As far as the footage itself, some of it is quite revealing. It’s probably safe to say based on the footage here that we’re going to see Rey kick a whole lot of ass. There are numerous shots of her training, sometimes with a lightsaber and other with her trusty staff. In particular, there’s one fantastic shot where it looks like Ridley blocks three oncoming strikes at once with her lightsaber before launching into an offensive. In a word, the footage shown here and in the first trailer make it seem like we’re really in store for an intense Star Wars film.

Additionally, in spite of the journey we undoubtedly have to accompany Rey on, it looks like Finn is going to be heavily involved well as John Boyega can be seen in several different outfits in the brief featurette. There are shots of wearing Poe’s jacket from The Force Awakens in addition to shots of him donning a Resistance flight suit, and what appears to be a First Order officer’s uniform alongside Kelly Marie Tran’s new character. Along with Tran, several of the other newcomers can also be seen momentarily as well including Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro as Resistance Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo and the mysterious “DJ” respectively.

As exciting as the footage is, there is an unmistakable undertone to it that continues to celebrate the late, great Carrie Fisher and how much she meant to her fans around the world. There several tear inducing moments in the reel such as Oscar Isaac wrapping her in a hug and kissing her cheek or later when she’s enjoying a laugh with her on screen brother Mark Hamill. Fisher closes out the featurette saying of Star Wars that “it’s about family, and that’s what’s so powerful about it.” The Last Jedi is the last movie Fisher filmed prior to her passing at the end of last year.

While there were all of those goodies in the featurette, fans attending D23 were treated to another cool reveal. Lucasfilm unveiled a series of new character based teaser posters for The Last Jedi. Intriguingly they are all done in the same style with all of the characters clothing altered to appear blood red against a light slate colored background. Plus only the bottom halves of their faces are shown. Together those two aspects give the posters an almost unsettling tone which doesn’t make it seem like our heroes are in going to face a lot of challenges in the film. Check ’em all out below!

All in all, in spite of the fact that it’s not a trailer, this behind the scenes reel is a fantastic substitute. Not only do we get some juicy looks at the production of the film, these featurettes are actually a great way for Lucasfilm to treat fans without tipping their hand. They can preserve story information so we don’t know too much about the plot of the movie before going into it instead of falling into the trap of giving too much away in a slew of trailers. Plus those character posters are fantastic even if they’re somewhat disconcerting. The Last Jedi is slated to release later this year on December 15.